Working and episodic memory trajectories over time following bilateral oophorectomy in early midlife women

• DOI: 10.1002/alz.083220
• Publication Date: 2023-12-25T15:25:40Z
• Authors: Laura Gravelsins; Rebekah Reuben; Alana Brown; Nicole J Gervais; Anne Almey; Annie Duchesne; Laurice Karkaby; Mateja Perovic; Suzanne Tyson Witt; Elisabet Classon; Nina Lykke; Elvar Theodorsson; Elisabeth Åvall L...; Preben Kjølhede; Maria Engström; Michelle Jacobson; Marcus Bernardini; William Foulkes; Elizabeth Page‐Gould; Elizabeth Hampson; Gillian Einstein
• Keywords: Memory span; Cognitive Decline

Abstract Background Early ovarian hormone deprivation due to bilateral salpingo‐oophorectomy (BSO; and fallopian tube removal) is a risk for late‐life AD, but estradiol replacement therapy (ERT) may be protective (Rocca et al., 2007). Working episodic memory decrements have been observed without ERT soon after surgery (Sherwin 1988) on average 5 years post‐BSO in midlife compared premenopausal controls (Gervais 2020). Unknown whether continues decrease over time early midlife, critical period understanding cognitive trajectories that presage AD. We investigated changes post‐BSO, those taking had different than without. Method Participants with BSO (BSO+ERT: M age = 44.5y; n 71) were not (BSO: 43.2y; 55), recruited from Toronto Montreal, Canada, Linköping, Sweden, completed up four yearly visits. Episodic was evaluated using Logical Memory Task (LM) percent forgetting Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT) total learning. assessed Spatial (SPWM) trial 1 errors, Digit Ordering (DOT) Span Backward (DSB) span length. Multilevel models used examine influenced disaggregate within‐ between‐person effects. Estimated marginal means (Aiken West, 1991) calculated delineate significant interactions. Result There no LM or RAVLT. The DSB showed effects; the group decreases length while BSO+ERT increases significantly longer lengths at seven beyond (Fig.1A&B). SPWM within‐person effect; stable errors working improvements made fewer (Fig.1C). Conclusion Findings suggest immediate verbal declines we previously stabilize. They also reveal ERT, most women post‐BSO. These data support administration preservation. If contraindicated, training lifestyle interventions mitigate declines.